Social Learning Theory Of Athletes

Through the years, in general, we see individuals with parents that are/were athletes have a tendency of becoming athletes themselves or at least have the athletic abilities to some extent. But a mindset of an athlete is dependent on the environment and social culture that an athlete surrounds themself in If athleticism was looked at as an equation, you can see that there are many variables (i.e. environment, opportunity, etc.) that factor into the total but a constant (genetics) will remain the same regardless of the variables. With this analogy in mind, genetics is a small part of an individual becoming an athlete compared to the external environment. The discussion of this paper will revolve around social learning theory having a greater …show more content…
This concept maybe used in criminology but works perfectly in this case as well. Differential association refers to learning values, behaviours, and techniques from interactions. Applying that to the mindset of athletes is ideal because an individual learns the sport, rules, and tactics/strategies that come along with the game and these abilities are further developed over time. Furthermore individuals base their fondness or distaste through theses “interaction “at an early stage in life. For example, my sister initially despised anything to do with winter sports, as time went on she got motivated by her friends to play ice hockey, go skiing, and try figure skating. Time further progressed and her interaction became more positive towards winter sports, and now she’s loves ice hockey to a point where she plays every week. Conversely, having social interactions can also have a major impact on an athlete as well. These social interactions can effect an athlete’s performance, communication between team based on social inclusion and other external factors. For example, I used to play football in high school and when I changed high schools I changed teams too, and the my new team was rivals with my old team, joining the new team came with temporary social exclusion, communication barriers, and performance barriers. My mind state was also effected when I we had games …show more content…
nurture debate, I believe that the environment has a greater impact on individuals, athletes to be specific, then genetics alone could have. There is a DNA gene test that determines the sport a child will excel at (Niemi, 2005) to a point of achieving professional status (Guth, 2013). These testes may not determine the exact sport that they will play but whether or not they give a genetic advantage (i.e power, endurance, performance, etc.). Gabby Logan (Olympic gymnast) discusses in an article about an individual that can excel at running or swimming may they possess a certain kind of fast-twitch muscle fiber gene (Logan, 2015), but if the nurture aspect of the variable isn’t present an individual will never know what they are capable off. If individuals began to determine the sport their child will play at an early age, they will be limiting the chance of variation. For example, Tony Ganzalas began playing basketball then switched to playing football as a tight end and arguably became the best tight end in the whole NFL to an extent where some of his records are still not broken to this day (Players, n.d.). Tony Ganzalas’ feats defy what the DNA gene test claims because not only was he able to excel at two different sports but hold world records as well. Similarly Gabby Logan also states that there are individuals that have the identical genes as Usain Bolt but are working office jobs not knowing their full potential (Logan,